QS World University Rankings 2025 Cycle
The QS Rankings 2025 cycle has arrived. Our cycle begins in November for data collection, and the QS World University Rankings, typically published in June, marks the start of the new publication cycle which runs up to the Subject Rankings in the spring of the following year.
All data collected during this cycle will be used to produce rankings beginning with the QS World University Rankings 2025 (to be published June 2024) and ending with QS Subjects Ranking 2025 (tentatively scheduled for an April 2025 publication).
*Please note that our Graduate Management Education Rankings (e.g. Global MBA / Business Masters/ Online MBA / Executive MBA) has its own process and data submission platform. Details of the new cycle for these will be communicated separately to the relevant contacts we have for our GME rankings and business schools in November 2023. If you want to ensure your institution’s business school receives this, please write to us to provide business school contacts for us to liaise with.
A message from the QS Rankings Team
Last year saw a significant development of our QS World University Rankings – the 20th anniversary methodology. Since its first edition nearly 20 years ago, the six indicators used in the evaluation of QS World University Rankings remained relatively unchanged. With a changing higher education landscape and QS’s continuing mission to empower students to fulfil their potential, we took the bold step to innovate and bring our methods up to date. The success of last year’s ranking was a proud moment for all of us here at QS. We have many people and groups to thank for getting us to that point, but not least all of you working at institutions who we interact with every day – from planning to strategy, international office to marketing and press departments, facilities and campus management, insights, bench marking and many, many more. For your questions, concerns, suggestions, complaints, advice, and most importantly your time – you have our gratitude.
Methodology
The methodology for our coming rankings can be found at support.qs.com. There are no changes planned for the 2025 edition of the QS World University Rankings. If adaptations are made to the methodologies of other rankings in the calendar, we will endeavour to provide six months’ notice to institutions as well as updating any changes on our support site. It is therefore important that you bookmark support.qs.com and the articles on our rankings, and refer to it for the most up-to-date information. We know that, despite everyone’s best efforts, emails get lost in spam filters or accidentally overlooked – so keeping an eye on the website is good practice.
Sustainability 2025
1 February 2024 - 15 April 2024 - Sustainability data collection opened in HUB
Full methodology and weights to be published mid-2024 for the QS Sustainability Rankings 2025.
Whilst the majority of the data requested from institutions remains the same, we have included some new fields in HUB which relate to Environmental Impact, Social Impact and Governance.
We will be gathering data to assess institutions’ commitment to providing dedicated training and assessment on both the environmental and social aspects of sustainability. Institutions will be asked provide confirmation as to whether they provide this training and whether this is for staff and/or students, together with the training duration (number of hours).
We will be asking institutions to provide information about any tools they use to assess sustainability and literacy and knowledge; this includes one option which is Sulitest TASK, however institutions who use alternative assessment tools can provide evidence.
The data collected for the Governance category is being expanded to include confirmation of an institutional Sustainability Committee.
The data portal (QS HUB) for the QS Sustainability Rankings 2025 will open on 1 February 2024. The deadline for submitting this data is April 15th 2024.
New Fields in QS HUB
As of October 2023, there are no new data fields in HUB compared to the previous cycle for the QS World or Regional Rankings. See above for new Sustainability fields.
Inclusion Criteria
If your university meets our preliminary inclusion criteria, then your institution may be evaluated for the following rankings:
- QS World University Rankings
- QS Regional Rankings
- QS Subject Rankings
- QS Sustainability Rankings
The inclusion in any published ranking is of course dependent on university performance. The submission of data does not guarantee that an institution will be ranked in any QS published rankings. Please refer to the individual rankings pages to find out more details.
Data reporting period for QS Rankings:
For the majority of the data we request, the reporting period should cover the academic year previous to our rankings cycle. Our cycles start in November of each year – so, when the cycle begins in November 2023, we are collecting data for the 2022 academic year. This will be approximately January to December 2022 for the Southern Hemisphere, and August 2022 to July 2023 for the Northern Hemisphere. There are exceptions to this, so please refer to our data dictionary if you are unsure.
Note for UK Institutions
HESA are not providing data according to the usual timescale; this means that the data will not be available for the upcoming 2025 cycle of QS Rankings.
There are two options available to institutions:
- QS will use last year’s HESA data for the 2025 rankings cycle
- Your institution can submit up to date data on our HUB platform; the deadline is 9 February 2024.
Please note that for any concerns about availability of HESA data, your institution needs to contact HESA directly.
If you have any concerns relating to the data submission, please contact rankings@qs.com
How do I submit data for inclusion in these rankings?
You should submit data for your institution through our QS HUB platform. Please contact our Institution Support Team via our helpdesk (Submit a request – QS Quacquarelli Symonds) if you do not have login details, or need further support.
I can’t see a page for the Subject Rankings. Is this an error?
No. All institutions (including specialist institutions and postgraduate/ undergraduate only institutions) are automatically considered for QS Subject Rankings. The methodology for this ranking does not utilise institutional data. You are encouraged however to submit academic and employer lists for our surveys.
What happens if I don't provide data?
We strongly encourage institutions to provide us with up-to-date and objective data. Where this is not possible, we will seek to source this from third-party sources, or use regional averages or historic data to fill the gaps. Our rankings are not opt-in/out-out, so it is in an institution's best interest to ensure that we reflect them accurately.
Can I opt-out of a rankings?
No. Please see our policy here.
Deadlines
Survey list deadlines
- Submit Academic and Employer contact detail lists and Registration of Sign-up by Friday 12th January 2024
All institutions are invited to help improve the impact of our academic and employer surveys by providing us with updated academic and employer contact details. Your contribution is vital to ensuring comprehensive and high-quality survey responses. Get the full instructions here.
Not sure how to select the best contacts for the upcoming cycle? QS Analytics offer valuable insights into past academic and employer nominations to help you make strategic decisions for this year's nominees. Experience the demos firsthand for the Academic Reputation Tracker and Employer Reputation Tracker.
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Institutional data submission deadlines
- Submit statistics required for the QS World University Rankings by Friday 9th February 2024
Since you are being considered for the QS World University Rankings, please complete all data fields by the above date. You are also welcome to complete any other data for the regional rankings at this time. - Submit statistics required for the QS Regional Rankings by Friday 9th February 2024
We do not need you to submit the same data more than once per year, but our regional rankings may include some additional reporting requirements (such as Staff with PhD and Exchange Students). If you did not update these with your World Rankings data, they must also be submitted by Friday 9th February 2024. - Submit statistics required for the QS Sustainability Rankings: April 15th 2024
The QS HUB portal for the Sustainability Ranking will open in the new year. The data fields and definitions are currently under review for the 3rd edition. You will receive another notification to remind you to complete this data. The exact deadlines for submission will be communicated as soon as possible.
Unfortunately we are not able to provide extensions, so please let us know if you need any help or clarification to complete the process in time.
